Rosie Posie - TT Winter Blossoms and Jay Gee's Challenge #15

Hello!

Second post for the day. I couldn't stop at just one card with my new Rosie Posie stamps and dies. I had to have a good play!

In my previous post I forgot to say a big welcome to my new followers! In the last few weeks I have had a few people join me here, and I feel honoured that you would want to see my creations regularly. Thank-you!

These two cards I made for Jay Gee's Nook Challenge #15 and Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger:Winter Blossoms.

I have been watching the inspiration photo boards over at Jay Gee's Nook challenges for months now. Every time I think "Ooh, that is SO nice! I must make a card!", and then promptly miss the deadline.  This time I remembered just in time, YAY! This is the inspiration for January.

And here is my card:

I used Rosie Posie, Filigrie Border, Curly Cute (Stampin' Up!) sentiment. Colours are crumb cake (kraft), blush blossom, barely banana, and certainly celery. Cardstock is PTI vintage cream.

Over at Moxie Fab World, the Tuesday Trigger uses very similar colours to Jay Gee's challenge. I thought while I had all those colours out, I would whip this one up too! Here is the Winter Blossoms trigger.

Delicious, isn't it?

Here is my card.

I used pretty much the same supplies as in the last card, minus green, and including the Soft Suede ribbon and sentiment.

On both cards I am still thinking about adding some pearls, but I haven't decided yet, so here they are shown pearl-less. :-)

Thanks for coming to visit and take a look at my cards, I love having you here.

Michelle
xxx

Colour Q #121 and Happy Australia Day

Hello!

Apart from my blubbering about national pride and Australia Day below, this post is about my card for ColourQ #121.  The colours this week are:

This week my PTI order arrived, and in there was Rosie Posie. Today was the day to ink it up.  Here is the first card I made using my new set and the gorgeous colours from colourQ.

Oh, I like this card. One layer. Bright colours on kraft. A nice big sentiment. And lots of open space. The white is an Inktense pencil. The sentiment is Think Big Favorites #11


Today is Australia Day. It is a national holiday. We get to celebrate the federation of Australia over barbeques and beer, maybe watching some sport on tv, generally relaxing. I got to do one of my favourite things for Australia Day this morning. I attended a Citizenship ceremony. I think Australia Day is the perfect day to become a citizen, and every time I attend one, I get all teary at welcoming our newest Australian citizens on our national day. I make it through singing the national anthem (Advance Australia Fair), but then we sing the national song (We Are Australian) and I get so choked up that I can't sing properly. I'm a big wuss! So to everybody in Australia today, I say, Happy Australia Day.


Michelle
xxx

Clean and Simple Days 6 and 7

This is my second post of the day. To see my For Your Inspiration post, just scroll down. :-)

Hello!

I had three really busy and really long days at work to start this week, so I had zero chance to even look at the Clean and Simple Classes 6, 7, and 8. Today I looked over Class 6 - Simple Embellishments, and Class 7 - Plainly White, and I decided to combine the two into one card. I think I used just about every technique we were shown in the tutorial videos!

My "embellishment" is my butterfly. I've used a negative die cut again because I just LOVE negative die cuts.  I have another card to make for these two classes, and I might get to that one tomorrow.

Here is today's effort:

I used my Stampin'Up! Butterfly punch twice (patterned paper and vellum), I edged the butterfly (and covered myself) in Dazzling Diamonds glitter, I stamped the sentiment in Pretty in Pink to keep the soft feel of the card.

I like it.

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #22 - watercolour flowers

Hello!

This week at For Your Inspiration Challenges we have another beautiful photograph to inspire you.

Remember, the Design Team Call is still open until January 31st, so if you'd like to join our team, please check out the details at the For Your Inspiration DT Call post.

Without further ado, here is the inspiration photo:

Isn't it restful? And all that colour, yum!

My take on it was to create a watercolour-style image, using the same colours.  I inked up my stamps, then I sprayed them with my shimmer mist liberally, and then stamped onto watercolour paper. This caused the images to run slightly and cause a much softer effect than just straight stamping with ink.

I used Soft Suede cardstock, Old Olive panel, and watercolour paper for the image panel. Inks were Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso (sentiment). Twine is Buttercup from the Twinery. The flowers are PTI Botanical Silhouettes.

I'd love it if you would join in the fun with us at For Your Inspiration.  And please do take some time to take a look at what the rest of the Design Team has come up with. They have done some amazing work, as always.

Debbie

Debby

Peggy

Rochelle

Sara

Steph

Vicki

I'm looking forward to seeing you over at FYI very soon!

Michelle
xxx

Clean and Simple Day 5 - techniques

Hello!

Day 5 at Clean and Simple Classes is about using techniques. The first technique is called Watercolour Blocking. It uses distress inks, of which I have none. That hasn't deterred me from attempting this technique, LOL! My first few attempts truly aren't fit for sharing. But I soldiered on!

This one that I created used a completely different watercolouring technique, and came about because I was playing with my Derwent Inktense pencils to create blocked watercolours when my little girl came up to check out my progress.  She said "Oh, YES! Yes, yes, yes! This one! Can this be for me?"  Only it wasn't yet a card she was looking at, it was just rainbow stripes on watercolour paper. It was my way of clearing the creative brick wall I had hit in attempting this technique... Anyway, who can resist an enthusiastic 4-year-old? Not me, for sure!  We sat together, she told me what she wanted, and away we went.

Here is the outcome, my little girl's card she designed for her big sister:

I'm not sure if you can see all the shimmer on the card. It is a very shimmery rainbow background. And the little one INSISTED that there be bling on the heart. The heart is black embossing. The black frame was drawn in my magic little Copic pen (the one Copic I own). The heart and the sentiment stamps are both from retired Stampin' Up! sets. The cardstock is Night of Navy and Crumb Cake.

I do love rainbows... now I'm off to try to create some more.

Michelle
xxx

Clean and Simple Day 3

Hello!

In Clean and Simple Classes Day 3, the topic for discussion was Inspiration. Where to find it, and what to do with it. I have to admit, I find inspiration EVERYWHERE, but I don't always use it.  A little while ago, I found a piece of art on Pinterest, and was instantly inspired, but haven't had the time to go back and work on my ideas.  For Day 3, I decided I would work on this. When I got into it, I realised that the time required to produce what was in my head was going to be more than I had, so I modified my design and my expectations. The original idea will wait for another day when I have more time. :-)

This is the art work, by Frank Stella:

Pinterest

When I first pinned it, I didn't have a die-cutting machine. And I didn't have any circle dies. I now have both. I started by cutting lots of circles using Spellbinders Nestabilities Circles.

This is after I had sorted them out.  Bad photo, but you get the idea. Then I stuck them down and cut them up. And then I played around for ages.

This is what I ended up with:

And the individual cards:

I don't really know if these qualify as CAS. They actually are quite simple, but they are very busy to look at, a bit like a 1970s bedspread or curtain, LOL!

Michelle
xxx

Clean and Simple Day 2, Part 2 with OLW74

Hello!

When I saw One Layer Wednesday this week, I decided to try to wake up my mojo and make another card for Clean and Simple Card Classes, Day 2. I made another stack of one-layer cards and this one is the very best of that bunch. Sigh!

Here is the card:

This card has potential. I need to reposition the elements at the very least! As it is, my kids like it, and they will use it, yay!

I used PTI Turning a New Leaf, and SU! Wonderful Favourites. Colours are Real Red and Pixie Pink.

I'm actually a bit embarrassed to share this one, but someone recently commented on her blog how nobody ever shows the less-than-perfect cards. So this post is for her, and you never know, someone else (a lot less critical than me) might like it, or it might inspire someone to make a better version, and that would make me happy. :-)

Michelle
xxx

Clean and Simple Day 2 - Part 1

Hello!

Oh, dear! Day 2 at Clean and Simple Card Classes is One Layer Cards! My nemesis! You would not believe the number of mistakes I made in my cards. In the end I gave up and have decided to show you the two best of a bad bunch. I really couldn't believe it, because lately I have made many, many one-layer cards that I have been very happy with. Obviously I was struck with performance anxiety, LOL!

Here is the first card:

I was totally inspired by Amber's mixed backgrounds cards. Unfortunately, I only have one set of background stamps, so it is a mixed-circle background card. Don't look too closely, and it looks really nice! I love this idea and I will practise more to perfect it.

I used PTI Background Basics: Circles, SU! Pumpkin Pie, and the sentiment is from SU! Trendy Trees.

Michelle
xxx

Clean and Simple Day 1 - Part 2

Hello!

Here is my second card for the Day 1 Clean and Simple Card Making class.

This one is based on a card by Maile Belles. I can't tell you how much I like Maile's cards, they're CAS-perfect!

Here is my card:

It's a bit BRIGHT isn't it? :-)

Here is a close-up of the flower die-cut:

I used PTI White card, SU! Only Orange and Yoyo Yellow (both retired), Twinery twine, and a SU! flower brad. The sentiment is PTI Botanical Silhouettes. The die is MFT, I forget it's name. I slipped the orange flower into the space left by the die-cut in the yellow panel.

I'll be back later with Day 2.  I have to go visit my 10 month old niece first! Definitely a pleasure worth skipping a bit of blogging for. :-)

Michelle
xxx

Clean and Simple Day 1 - Part 1

Hello!

A quick one today, I am taking part in the Clean and Simple Card Making online classes. It's actually almost the end of Day 2, but I thought I'd start at the beginning with what I've created for Day 1!

We had three sketches to work with. I got to two of them.  This first one is based on Kristina Werner's card.

I've used Jane's Doodles Pretty Peonies for the stamping in SU! Real Red and Memento Tuxedo Black, MFT mini rolled roses (oh, these are a work in progess, I need to practise, practise, practise to get these right!). The card is PTI White.

I quite like how this one turned out.

Michelle
xxx

RIC#3 - Black and White Love

Hello!

I've been pondering Runway Inspired Challenge #3 for a little while now, trying to think how I would use those black and white stripes. Today the idea came to me, so I sat down in this 36 degree heat (96.8F) and whipped up a little card quickly before I go for a swim. :-)

Here is the inspiration:

Black and white isn't my forte in card-making. Neither are stripes, really, but I like them!

I went for a black and white heart, and I picked up the circles off the runway floor.

Here is my card:

PTI Heart dies, PTI Background Basics: Circles, PTI Botannical Silhouettes (sentiment). A really easy card, and I really like it.

Now, I'm going to try to beat the afternoon thunderstorm to the pool.  It was a clear blue day 30 minutes ago, now we're looking at this:

It doesn't look much, but it won't be long until the sky is dark grey with lightning and thunder - that's my prediction anyway. It's rare for us to have this heat, and high humidity all day without an afternoon thunderstorm. We can't swim in a storm, so it is a matter of getting there before the thunder starts growling.

Michelle
xxx

PDCC#113 - Baby Congratulations

Hello!

The Play Date Cafe Challenge this week has the most beautiful sea glass colours as the inspiration. I think these colours rival yellow as my absolute favourite.  Unfortunately, I don't have sea glass colours in my ink supplies, a major oversight that I MUST take care of.

This is the colour story:

Yum, don't you think? I am pretty sure I have that top left photo torn out of a Better Homes and Gardens magazine, for future reference for paint colours somewhere in my home. :-)

I have gone for a "blue" theme and hope it fits well enough.  One of our cousins has just had a baby boy within the past 24 hours, and this card will be winging its way to him very soon.

My card:

I absolutely adore this card, totally. The frog is one of my favourite images from Jane's Doodles' Garden Friends set. The dies are PTI. The embossing folder is Sizzix, I inked it up before embossing to get the blue stripes. The sentiments are from PTI - Inside and Out: Baby. I coloured the frog using my Inktense pencils.

I hope you like him.

Michelle
xxx

2012 in photos - first week

Hello there!

Due to ongoing wall construction and painting work (which has caused massive dust issues here), I have not had any crafting time. I can't pull my gear out, or it will be instantly covered in dust. So I thought I would share a little of my other project - participating 2012 in Photos.  Here is a collage of my first week:

Would you like to take a look at the stories to go along with the photos?

You can pop over to my other blog Happy Snap Michelle. I'd love to see you there.

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #21

Hello!

Welcome to my post for the first challenge of the year over at For Your Inspiration.  We are up to challenge #21 already, gee time flies when you're having fun!

There is lots of fun to be had, as always, and there are prizes too! Our sponsor is The Wax Fruit Company and the prize is a $15 store credit. Go take a look, there are lots of lovely digi stamps to choose from.

The image I chose to work with for this challenge was Heart Quilt. The reason for this is that the inspiration photo is a church, which made me think of LOVE.

Here is the image for this challenge:

And here is my card:

Yep, the photo of my card isn't great, LOL!  Here is another view:

And another close-up:

Thinking my light may not have been the best when taking those photos.

I used SU! Crumb Cake, Pretty in Pink, and Soft Suede (sentiment). I used The Twinery Blossom twine as my washing line to hang the quilt on. The "white" paper is PTI Vintage Cream.

Now, have you thought you might like to be on a Design Team one day?  Well, the call is out for some more Design Team members over at For Your Inspiration. I can tell you that this team of ladies is fantastic to work with, and Steph's inspiration photos for each challenge make it EASY to come up with ideas. If you haven't already been there, pop over to the For Your Inspiration blog for more details on how you might join the team.

The rest of the DT has come up with some gorgeous work for this challenge, why don't you pay them a visit too?

Debbie

Debby

Peggy

Rochelle

Sara

Steph

Vicki

Michelle
xxx

2012 in Photos

Hello,

I started a new blog. My blog-friend Steph brought to my attention that Lori Boyd is running a 2012 in Photos blog.  Since I am working on improving my photography skills, I thought I'd start a blog to keep my photography adventures separate from my other crafty adventures. I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up with this Photo a Day idea, but I'll give it a shot.

My first photo was this one:

If you'd like to take a look at my new blog, come on over to Happy Snap Michelle. I'd love to see you there.

Michelle
xxx